americas strategy 2013 –14 - british council · the british council americas strategy 2013– 14...

Americas Strategy 2013 –14

This is a Time of great change across The americas. so how are we going To respond? and whaT difference do we plan To make?

The British Council Americas Strategy 2013 – 14

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© Daniel Spalato

Premier Skills in Brazil, a partnership with the Premier League


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This is a time of great change across the Americas.

people want a good education and the skills to get a job and join the global community.

progressive leaders are seeking innovation to transform education and training systems and build more equitable societies. hundreds of thousands of teachers need retraining to teach english and 21st century skills, while their schools and universities are eager to internationalise.

and artists and creative people everywhere desire the mutually enriching exchanges that build creative economies and help us to see our world and each other in new ways.

our prosperity and happiness are founded on trust and co-operation. that’s why, with our many partners in the Uk and the region, we’re embarking on a strategy for growth and innovation to help respond to these challenges.

our aim is to strengthen cultural relations with the americas in ways which will enable more people in the Uk to learn and benefit from their contacts with the region. if you would like to join us, please email [email protected]

our vision

2011–12turnover£27.4m

2012–13turnover£30.7m

REDUCING PER CENT GOVERNMENT GRANT

£14.4mGIA

£13mTotal other turnover

£14.4mGIA

£16.3mTotal other turnover

Projected2013–14turnover

£38m

£14.6mGIA

£23.4mTotal other turnover


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Arts• Arts in all countries, bringing contemporary UK creativity to

international audiences.

• Large-scale campaigns in two countries – Transform in Brazil 2012 –16 and preparing for Mexico in 2015.

• UK collaborations with institutions and artists in the Americas and support for the development of arts infrastructure, with an initial focus on the museums sector.

• Programmes which address issues of social cohesion.

• Support for creative economies in the region and the UK, highlighting the role of the UK’s artistic excellence, innovation, diversity and experiment in progress and success.

Education and society• Two new regional leadership posts: Director Education and

Society with a background in basic education; and Director Skills for Extractive Industries to develop opportunities for UK education and training solutions in this sector and more widely in response to the regional need for more skills.

• Promoting UK higher education across the continent.

• New services to support internationalisation including benchmarking, academic readiness for higher education, and mobility for early career researchers.

• More links and research collaborations with support for UK institutions in identifying partnerships and funding.

• Policy dialogues to strengthen the reputation and networks of UK higher education and advocate changes to support opportunities for UK transnational education.

• Partnerships with UK providers for skills development of workforces trained to international standards.

• International opportunities for young people in the UK.

• Expansion of programmes for school linking and professional development of teachers and head teachers and a broader strategy for basic education dealing with equity, quality, training, inspection, curriculum, and technology.

• New programmes in youth employment, governance, sport, social enterprise, sustainable communities and opportunities for women.

English and exams• Promoting the UK as an English language learning destination

and a provider of innovative English teaching solutions.

• Expansion of teaching with new delivery models including online and blended courses in more locations for new audiences (very young learners, new immigrants, internationally mobile students and the emerging C class) and expansion of English for specific purposes.

• Major growth of large scale training solutions for teachers of English at all levels (basic through to higher education).

• Further development of our services for exam awarding bodies, exam candidates and accrediting organisations by introducing new exams products and opening up new markets for UK exams and assessment.

So what difference are we already making to cultural relations with the UK? Here are some examples of what we achieved in 2012–2013 with our partners.

Arts• 270 UK artists worked in the region.

• 1.8 million people experienced the creativity of UK arts.

• 70 UK arts organisations created new partnerships.

Education and society• 1,200 influencers and policy makers attended our policy

dialogues to share their experience and discover more about the UK’s capabilities.

• 265 UK education institutions presented to over 20,000 potential students at marketing events.

• 338,000 potential customers engaged with UK education services.

• 1,645 schools in the UK linked with the region.

• 183,000 children participated in education programmes, including sport (not including English).

• 37,500 head teachers and teachers received professional development.

our programme focus in 2013 –14


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• £778,500 additional funding came from partners for higher education links with the UK.

• £246,000 additional funding came from partners for research partnerships with the UK.

English and exams• 36,000 teachers of English received training either directly

or through trainers we’d trained.

• 704,000 learners improved their English either directly or through British Council trained trainers.

• 61,000 British Council and UK exams were delivered to candidates across the region.

GREAT partners

Our principal UK partner is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. We work closely with partners in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to promote the GREAT campaign. The GREAT British pavilion was one of the biggest exhibitors at the world’s largest international education conference, the NAFSA Annual Conference in St Louis in 2013.

More than 9,000 visitors from over 90 different countries and over 1,600 study abroad professionals visited the pavilion. With support from the GREAT campaign, we aim to generate nearly 400 US undergraduate student enrolments and 250 US study abroad students in the UK by 2017, a return on investment of over £42 million.

© Ivonne Muller


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to keep growing, we must innovate. the scale of demand for transformation, particularly in education, will mean new partnerships and solutions as we create opportunities for the Uk to build relationships with the americas.

Arts• New approaches to supporting creative economies with an

initial focus on Brazil, including a training programme with NESTA in 12 World Cup cities.

• Financial support for UK companies to perform in the USA, recovering our investment from extra bookings.

• New courses in museums development and cultural leadership.

Education and society• A toolkit to benchmark internationalisation in universities.

• An academic readiness course for university entrants, including English, intercultural skills and academic preparation.

• New community-based approaches to education for enterprise.

• A new programme, Try Rugby, a partnership with Premiership Rugby to grow the game in Brazil.

• A new partnership approach with consortia of UK employers and education institutions to meet the skills needs of the Mexico energy sector, an approach we’re developing with the Embassy and the skills agency CONALEP which could be extended to other sectors and markets.

• Services for overseas QA (quality assurance) including consultancy services for accreditation bodies, support for the development of agreements on mutual accreditation of awards, monitoring and evaluation of international education partnerships, and training for assessors – all in development with partners such as the QAA in the UK.

• Development support for early career and mature researchers.

English and exams• The first English language teaching diploma for primary

teachers in Venezuela, which will then be available for other countries.

• Remote teaching of English to 27,000 school students in Uruguay using teachers in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and the Philippines.

• Online and face-to-face events to share market insights with educators in the UK and the region.

• A low cost blended learning approach to English teaching for the emerging C class – in Chile we’re delivering mass online English support with 60,000 courses and a fully online secondary English language teaching certificate (CiSELT) for 1,000 teachers.

• New opportunities for UK exam boards and universities (over 40 per cent growth in volume) with remote delivery and cost efficient products.

a sTraTegy for innovaTion


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remoTe Teaching in uruguay

We re-established our office in montevideo in 2013 to partner with plan ceibal on delivering remote teaching of english. the programme will reach over 120,000 pupils in primary schools across the country by 2015.

This project is at the forefront of innovation in education. Teachers in other locations (including Argentina, Mexico, Colombia and the Philippines, as well as remotely within Uruguay itself) teach the children using CISCO telepresence equipment and online connections. Training materials and teaching quality assurance are provided by the British Council.

The Uruguayan teachers also receive in-service training remotely to develop their English language and teaching methodologies, supporting sustainable improvements in the quality of English teaching in Uruguay.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest such programme anywhere in the world. Evaluation of the pedagogical value of a pilot in 2012 found very high levels of enthusiasm from the class teachers in Uruguay. The children were overwhelmingly positive and there was strong evidence that their English had improved.

This teacher in Buenos Aires is team teaching English to a class of ten year olds in Montevideo with the Uruguayan teacher who has prepared for this and two other 45 minute classes with email and teleconference exchanges with her Argentinian colleague.


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an entrepreneurial public service

In the Americas we employ over 320 people. They are a unique resource for the UK’s cultural relations because of their deep knowledge of the countries they work in, their access to influencers and decision makers, their expertise, and their commitment to building mutually beneficial relationships with the UK.

But the scale of our response to our partners’ needs in the region will have to increase. As will the range of UK partners we work with.

So we, too, will change as we develop as the world’s leading cultural relations organisation and as a world-leading entrepreneurial public service.

What will change look like?That’s why we’re investing in our people and in new ways of working. Here are some examples of what that will mean:

• Investment in training to develop expertise in the arts, English, education and society and in areas which support growth such as digital, commercial partnering, contracting and business development.

• New regional human resources and financial management approaches to manage a big increase in geographical presence and turnover.

• Completion of our programme to regularise our status in all countries.

• A more flexible digital platform and a regional team to manage these functions professionally.

• Better online and face-to-face customer service, including recruitment of a regional Head of Customer Service.

• Closer integration of our English and Education teams, particularly in our expanded programme for basic education.

• A strengthened commitment to equal opportunity and diversity across everything we do.

• More innovative cost management, particularly as this affects our premises, and including further reductions in our impact on the environment.

invesTing in change

Our team in Chile won the coveted Entrepreneurial Public Service Award in the Staff Awards for 2013 .


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‘ Our collaboration with the British Council on the Colombian bilingual policy embodies academic assistance of the highest quality in the design and implementation of strategies to foster English as a foreign language in Colombia. It is safe to say that the achievements of Colombia in terms of English competencies development are due mostly to the assistance that the British Council, through its expertise and vast knowledge, has provided us with.’

Maria Fernando Campo, Minister of Education, Colombia

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10 Havana11 Kingston12 Port of Spain13 Mexico City14 Monterrey15 Washington DC16 New York17 Los Angeles18 Miami19 Montevideo

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the British council and the Uk as trusted and innovative partners for argentina in education and culture through institutional links and professional exchanges.

Opportunities for Argentina–UK cultural relations• Argentina has a highly literate population and one of the

best-developed telecommunications markets in Latin America with over 26 million internet users.

• Demand for British English is high and there is a well-developed commercial English teaching sector.

• English language in-service training for teachers in primary and secondary public schools is limited.

• Education in disadvantaged contexts is a growing priority at national and provincial levels.

• Issues around citizenship, diversity and inclusion feature strongly in the national educational agenda.

• The UK is a respected supplier of education services and dominates the book and exam markets.

• Argentina has a rich culture and there is high demand in the arts for engagement with the UK. The creative industries represent 3.75 per cent of Argentina’s GDP and attract big government support.

How we can make a difference• Creating positive relationships, we can play an important

role, particularly in light of the Falklands dispute.

• Providing in-service training for primary and secondary public school teachers and training services for private schools.

• Developing English for specific purposes.

• Partnering with the Ministry of Education at national and provincial levels on citizenship, diversity and inclusion.

• Helping Argentina develop its creative industries.

argenTina

IN 2013–14, WE WILL…

Arts• Work with the national Ministry of Culture to develop

the Mercado de Industrias Culturales, with exchange opportunities for Argentine and UK professionals, entrepreneurs and organisations.

• Present, in partnership with Faena Arts Centre, Anthony McCall’s Five Minutes of Pure Sculpture in Buenos Aires and, in partnership with the Festival Internacional de Teatro, bring Vanishing Point’s Interiors to Argentina.

• Develop a partnership for an exhibition of the British Council collection with a programme of museums development and collection management workshops.

• Showcase experimental and innovative UK film making with the Britania Lado B project at key festivals.

• Partner with the Royal Court Theatre to develop a new writing programme for Argentine playwrights.

• Develop a music education initiative linking youth orchestras in Argentina and visiting musicians from the UK.

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS IN ARGENTINA

• We have a very positive relationship with the national Ministry of Culture, which has supported visits by UK specialists to Argentina, and with the Argentine Embassy in London, which funded a showcase of Argentine fashion in London.

• Over 35,000 students and more than 3,000 teachers joined our Connecting Classrooms online schools collaboration programme.

• Our English teaching and learning materials are on more than 1.9 million netbooks in public schools.


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How it Feels in Buenos Aires in 2012 was the first museum-based exhibition in the Americas of work by Tracey Emin. At the opening she made clear her appreciation of the British Council by saying, ‘They have not just supported this exhibition, they have supported my work for 20 years.’

© Alejandro Guyot. Courtesy Malba-Fundacion Costantini


Education and society• Connect 300 UK and Argentine schools through partnerships,

school-led projects and online collaborations.

• Deliver professional development programmes in global citizenship and intercultural awareness for 500 English language teachers through workshops and for 1,000 teachers online.

• Support international curriculum development online and through accreditation and awards.

• Deliver a policy dialogue on international learning for decision-makers and influencers in Argentina.

English and exams• Grow our exams business to build a greater profile for UK

examinations and assessment.

• Increase access to free British Council online products and services for teachers and learners of English.

• Continue our work with teacher associations to retain a strong presence at the English Language Conferences.


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the British council and the Uk as trusted and innovative partners for progress in Brazil with a focus on english, basic and higher education, the arts and sport.

Opportunities for Brazil–UK cultural relations• Brazil has 55 per cent of South American GDP and is likely

to become the world’s fourth largest economy by 2050.

• Brazil will host the 2014 World Cup and Rio 2016, investing £17 billion in related projects, and wants to draw on UK experience for its mega-sporting events.

• Brazil is expanding its cultural infrastructure into many more parts of the country.

• Brazil is the world’s sixth largest country by number of school pupils but quality in education is an issue – Brazil ranked 55th in the 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results.

• The government invested US $382 billion in public education last year and is supporting innovation in large-scale systemic solutions like the Science Without Borders scheme to send 100,000 students to study abroad, with 10,000 due to go to the UK.

• Brazil’s Congress voted in July 2013 to invest 75 per cent of oil revenues in education.

• A ‘new middle class’ (the C Class) makes up 54 per cent of the population and represents a market worth more than US$500 billion. 77 per cent of people in the C Class believe education is a top priority.

• Brazil has 6.7 million university students. Five million are in private universities and there is fast growth of private higher education conglomerates through mega-mergers and acquisitions.

• There is no national curriculum for English in public schools. Many of the 200,000 teachers of English (of whom 100,000 are in the public sector) are unable to speak or teach the language to the country’s 24 million English language learners.

• Industry lacks skilled labour and policy makers recognise that improving education is crucial to reducing wage differentials and promoting growth.

How we can make a difference• Partnering with schools and universities to strengthen the

quality of English language teaching, including developing low cost online and blended courses for the emerging C class.

• Sharing the UK’s experience of innovative teaching methodologies and resources for public education.

• Supporting Science Without Borders applicants to UK universities in achieving the required English levels.

• Creating opportunities for UK suppliers to enter Brazil, sharing our market understanding with the UK’s ELT and education sectors and helping UK publishers to position their materials in the market.

• Increasing cultural and artistic exchange between Brazil and the UK to strengthen institutional partnerships, support vulnerable communities, reshape limiting attitudes to disability and generate new work for new audiences all over the country.

• Supporting the Ministry of Culture to develop the cultural Olympiad, including equipping people administering the games with basic English.

• Harnessing the GREAT campaign to promote UK culture and business and to establish the UK’s reputation for innovation, science, education, sport and entrepreneurship.

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS IN BRAzIL

• Through Connecting Classrooms, 60,000 children have developed their understanding of the world and 500 teachers have developed new skills linked to internationalising the classroom.

• As Rio 2016 prepares to add Rugby 7s, we have trebled the number of rugby players in Brazil through our Try Rugby partnership with Premiership Rugby.

• We are training 550 teachers in English language and teaching methodology in all 26 Brazilian states and the federal district.

Brazil


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In Rio as part of Transform we ran an Olympic and Paralympic cultural forum with the latter featuring the Unlimited showcase of work by 30 artists with disabilities from the UK.

Marc Brew photographed by Ratão Diniz


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ArtsDeliver Transform, our Olympic legacy programme (2012–16) to promote UK creative connections with Brazil. This is a £1 million investment in 2013–14 in partnership with Arts Council England and Creative Scotland in 15 cities and nationally via online, television and radio. The programme aims to transform:

• The creative aspirations and life opportunities of marginalised communities through cultural engagement.

• The practice of emerging artists in both countries by collaborating on themes of sustainability, conflict, diversity and power.

• Limiting attitudes towards disability through a programme of outstanding commissions, presentations and forums.

• Institutional partnerships through mutual learning, capacity building and shared programmes which improve cultural distribution to regional and rural areas.

• Exchanges between creative entrepreneurs in fashion, music, museums, publishing, gaming, design and architecture.

Higher education and skills• Disburse £200,000 of Global Innovation Fund funding for

research collaborations with the USA and the UK and create a partnership with FAPESP for joint research.

• Support enrolment of 11 UK PhD students of TEFL in UNESP English language PhD programmes at universities in the state of São Paulo. They will help improve English for 1,000 UNESP students and academics, train people for IELTS and strengthen collaboration with UK universities.

• Expand our education fairs in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo to 70+ UK institutions (46 in 2012–13) reaching 6,000 potential students.

• Launch research about the skills sector in Brazil, focusing on opportunities for interaction with UK partners.

• Deliver market intelligence and policy dialogues to promote opportunities for UK further education.

Basic education and sport• Link 500 Brazilian schools with schools abroad online.

• Launch a new leadership course for 60 head teachers responsible for 100,000 children.

• Manage a project co-funded by HSBC to send 20 public school English teachers from the state of Pernambuco to the UK for four weeks’ English language training.

• Expand the Youth Sport Leadership programme (developing leadership skills through sport for ten to 17 year olds in public schools and their teachers) to São Paulo, Brasilia, the north-east and Rio de Janeiro.

• Expand Premier Skills (football for citizenship for 12 to 15 year olds with development for trainers, coaches and volunteers) beyond Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo to Belo Horizonte, Curitiba and the Northeast. This programme has already influenced Rio de Janeiro police training and recruitment policies.

• Expand Try Rugby (co-created with Premiership Rugby, using rugby for education, social development and inclusion of eight to 17 year olds and their teachers) in 12 cities in the state of São Paulo in partnership with SESI, which delivers public services in arts, sports and health.

English and exams• Support a major expansion of teacher training in private

universities and schools catering to the emerging C class, 54 per cent of the population.

• Introduce a blended (online and face-to-face) offer for C class students concerned about employability.

• Develop partnerships with Brazilian and multinational corporations for English in the workplace.

• Help improve the English of Science Without Borders candidates to help them secure visas to study in the UK.

• Partner with the World Cup and Olympics organising bodies to deliver English training for stewards, volunteers and the hospitality trades.

• Partner with the S System group to deliver teacher training for 500 teachers in all 26 states.

• Share market insight about opportunities with the UK ELT sector through regular briefings.

• Launch David Graddol’s report on English Now in Brazil.

• Expand our exams network.



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the British council and the Uk as trusted and innovative partners for canada with work in the arts, english, exams and skills for global citizenship.

Opportunities for Canada–UK cultural relations

• The UK is Canada’s second biggest trade partner.

• Canada is a leading member of the Commonwealth.

• Canada prides itself on its cultural diversity, and endorses French and English as official languages.

• There has been 34 per cent growth in post-graduates and 123 per cent growth in undergraduates going to the UK in the past six years.

• Canada has the highest net inward migration in the Americas and immigrants make up 20 per cent of the population, a fast changing demographic which will affect relations with the UK.

How we can make a difference• Supporting Canada’s immigration authorities, universities and

employers with English tests and English language, academic readiness and intercultural skills training for immigrants and students coming to Canada.

• Marketing and partnership brokering for UK higher education, including transnational education.

• Developing creative economy partnerships that demonstrate the UK’s creativity in the arts.

• Supporting arts collaborations for social cohesion.

• Working with foundations and businesses interested in the UK’s expertise in social entrepreneurship.

• Supporting the debate on gender parity in boardrooms through exchanges of experience.

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS IN CANADA

• An exchange between Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre and Montréal’s La Licorne – Théâtre de la Manufacture led to two productions by David Greig which drew 2,000 people.

• Our support for the Scottish School of Forestry led to an internship programme with the Canadian Institute of Forestry and progress towards an exchange programme with a college in northern Alberta.

canada


Arts• Work with Canadian partners to explore the role of the arts in

helping to transform the narratives of violence and alienation common to many countries in the Americas.

• Develop a partnership between Montréal’s Société des Arts Technologiques and Liverpool’s Foundation for Art and Creative Technology to create a platform for experimenting with telepresence theatre.

• Showcase UK creativity at festivals and major institutions.

Education and society• Expand our education marketing services for over 100 UK

education institutions, engaging thousands of Canadians, and work with the Canadian Independent School Counsellors association to pilot mini-UK-fairs.

• Work with UKTI, the Science and Innovation Network and other partners to promote UK expertise in social entrepreneurship.

• Establish a network of more than 100 alumni of UK universities with networking events and mentoring.

• Engage 100 primary and middle schools across Canada in activities around Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games.

• Promote dialogue on gender equity in boardrooms.

English and exams• Pilot academic and business readiness courses in Toronto

with a blend of English language training, intercultural skills and preparation for unfamiliar academic systems and business environments.

• Open new IELTS test centres and administer exams on behalf of UK professional and vocational boards.


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the British council and the Uk as trusted and innovative partners for chile, engaging 750,000 chileans with the Uk through english and the arts.

Opportunities for Chile – UK cultural relations• Chile leads Latin America in human development,

competitiveness, income per capita, globalisation, economic freedom and low levels of corruption. According to Ernst & Young, Chile is the ‘pacesetter’ in Latin America.

• Chile has high literacy and internet connectivity and its large urban middle class is looking to capitalise internationally on the country’s assets.

• Chile is developing its creative economy and cultural infrastructure.

• University fees went up by 12 per cent between 2005 and 2012, making them the second highest in the region.

• After student protests in 2011, debate continues about the financing, quality and equality of education, a skills gap (including English) and the comparative value of technical and university education. The UK is well placed and trusted to engage in all these areas.

• English is compulsory from fifth grade in primary but Business Chile says less than two per cent of Chileans can be understood when speaking English.

How we can make a difference• Working with the public education system to improve

English levels.

• Providing opportunities for arts professionals in the UK and Chile to establish joint enterprises.

• Promoting UK higher education and encouraging international mobility and research links.

chile


Arts• Present debates and performances at the global conference

of the International Federation of Arts Councils and Cultural Agencies alongside Chile’s main international theatre festival.

• Work with the Ministry of Culture to develop 15 Chilean playwrights with five plays in London in a project run by the Royal Court Theatre and Chilean partners.

• Help UK museums to develop new partnerships in Chile, building on a visit of museum policy makers to the UK.

• Celebrate Benjamin Britten’s centenary with music education and music broadcasting links with the UK.

Education and society• Promote UK higher education and research links through

exhibitions and other services, including a biannual education fair with French and German agencies and BecasChile.

English and exams• Expand our programme with the Ministry of Education

to develop English language learning.

• Share UK expertise in pre-service training at universities and in-service training for English teachers.

• Deliver pre-service and in-service training and professional development programmes for English teachers in the public sector.

• Support English language policy in areas such as standards, training, curriculum development and IT.

• Make free British Council English materials available on Chilean web portals, mapping them onto the local curriculum to make them easier for teachers to use.


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• Build an online community of English teachers in partnership with IATEFL Chile.

• Maintain the language assistants programme of 60–70 young people from Chile and the UK to support the teaching of English in Chilean universities.

• Position Aptis as an English testing solution with ministries, education providers and private companies.

• Run a regional policy dialogue for senior decision makers about the value of English in economic development and creating social equity and global connections.

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS IN CHILE

• 60,000 workers are learning English online in a partnership with the Ministry of Economy.

• 800 English teachers are on a course on teaching methodology, financed by the Ministry of Education.

© Ivonne Muller

2012–13 saw record numbers of UK education institutions joining our education fairs. Our higher education fair in Chile (pictured here) attracted 18 UK universities and 10,000 visitors, consolidating the UK as the top destination for Chilean students going overseas.


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the British council and the Uk as trusted and innovative partners for progress in colombia, aiming to be present throughout the country.

Opportunities for Colombia–UK cultural relations• In his June 2013 meeting with David Cameron, President

Santos described the UK–Colombia relationship as at ‘the best time in its history’.

• Colombia has doubled its trade with the UK in the last two years and the UK is now the second largest foreign investor after the USA.

• Colombia is open to international partnership. Foreign direct investment has rocketed and growth is stable at four per cent per annum.

• With 46 million people at an average age of 28 Colombia has the second largest population of any Spanish-speaking country in the world.

• President Santos has guaranteed free education for all children in public schools and in 2012 Colombia committed 4.9 per cent of GDP to education.

• Colombia invests heavily in infrastructure, science and innovation (£500 million per annum).

• In 2010, for the first time, the largest group of Colfuturo scholars chose the UK. This is a public and private sector initiative to get more Colombian professionals into higher education abroad. The UK gets 1,000 international students from Colombia each year.

• There is no national curriculum for English but President Santos wants Colombia to be a ‘centre of bilingualism’ in the region with major improvements in English teaching and learning by 2019.

• The Urban Land Institute declared Medellín winner of an award for the world’s most innovative city.

• The peace negotiations feature a demand for projects on human rights education, active citizenship, gender equality, social inclusion and leadership.

How we can make a difference• Helping policy makers to develop a national English language

strategy and developing an English language curriculum that shares UK teaching methodologies and resources.

• Partnering with local education authorities to design and implement their action plans for in-service teacher development, sharing UK best practice.

• Helping more students and researchers get to the UK, including equipping them with the English language proficiency and qualifications they need.

• Helping Colombia strengthen its creative industries.

• Challenging outdated perceptions of Colombia in the UK to help create more relationships and links.

• Harnessing the GREAT campaign to promote UK culture and business and strengthen the UK’s reputation for innovation, science, education, sport and entrepreneurship.

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS IN COLOMBIA

• We run the largest exams business in the region, delivering 32,500 UK exams each year – and in 2013 we won an award from Cambridge English Language Assessment for the best growth in the Andean region.

• Our national standards for English as a foreign language are used by 90 per cent of education institutions in Colombia.

• We secured agreement with the state government of Antioquia to develop a proof of concept for a network of 80 education parks, with major opportunities for UK providers to provide digital materials and services.

• We are working with Medellín to map the city’s creative economy and infrastructure, build effective funding models and forge new partnerships with UK institutions and expertise.

• We have entered discussions with the Colombian government about strengthening the UK’s cultural relationship with the Caribbean region by establishing a cultural hub in the San Andrés archipelago.

• Our Teaching Centre is partnering with 170 institutions across Colombia to improve English language teaching.

colomBia


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ArtsSupport the emergence of Colombia as a creative industries hub, contributing to economic growth, through:

• An education and capacity-building programme.

• Mapping and research projects that link to policy making.

• A new digital magazine app, with MinTic, MinCultura and the Arts Council Digital Fund, to develop digital audiences.

• Showcasing and UK partnerships in: literature – with a focus on digital publishing for small independent publishers; film – promoting Colombia to UK film makers who can get 40 per cent tax relief for foreign productions; visual arts – focusing on strengthening museums.

Higher education and skills• Increase our international marketing of UK higher and

further education by taking exhibitions to more cities.

• Support the internationalistion of Colombian institutions.

• Deliver policy dialogues and create advisory boards around key issues in higher education and skills (quality assurance, internationalisation, progression routes, etc.).

• Administer British Council higher education links awards worth £50,000 (matched by £50,000 from Colciencias) to provide researcher training and network support for key sectors.

• Offer pre-mobility academic alignment and English language support, growing the number of Colombian students who attend British Council accredited English language institutes in the UK to 180.

• Enable academics from 21 British universities and 11 Colombian universities to engage in joint research through the British Council – Ministry of Education mobility fund.

• Provide post-mobility activities for returning students and academics in conjunction with industry and public services.

• Create sector groups to define ‘system’ needs in skills and knowledge, promoting policy development.

Basic education• Increase the number of UK schools in Colombian school

partnerships, helping students learn about life in the UK and develop global citizenship through joint projects.

• Provide leadership training for 200 head teachers in 12 local education authorities across the country.

• Offer online training for teachers to introduce intercultural content into the curriculum and join international networks.

• Expand our online school collaboration programme to include activities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.

English and examsImprove the quality of English teaching through:

• Policy dialogues for senior officials.

• Support for the development of an English curriculum that draws on UK teaching methodologies and best practice.

• Provision of professional development for English teachers (working with 75 per cent of the universities that train them).

• Resourcing government centres for learning English with world class content.

Contribute to up-skilling the Colombian workforce in the use of English and access to international markets by:

• Expanding options for those who learn English through the internet, mobile devices, radio, television or print.

• Supporting the English language learning of high school students with world class multimedia learning tools.

• Improving the language of young entrepreneurs and employees of the tourism and business process outsourcing (BPO) sectors.

Expand our face-to-face teaching model by:

• Extending services currently delivered in Bogotá to reach across the country (including the Caribbean Islands) through innovative online and blended delivery in Medellín, San Andrés, Cali, Barranquilla and Cartagena including use of video conferencing and Adobe Connect.

• Introducing innovative new products including flexible registrations, online placement testing and new services for very young learners.

Further develop our services for exam awarding bodies, exam candidates and accrediting organisations by:

• Increasing the number of candidates for IELTS, Cambridge English Language Assessment exams and Aptis.

• Developing the impact of UK international schools’ curricula (CIE) by growing the number of participating schools and candidates (IGCSEs and A levels).



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a wider caribbean strategy with a focus on english, basic and higher education, skills, the arts and strengthening civil society.

Opportunities for Caribbean–UK cultural relations• The Caribbean occupies a unique place in the UK’s relations

with the Americas because of our shared history and the Caribbean diaspora in the UK.

• 40 million people live in the Caribbean and of the six million people in the diaspora, 600,000 live in the UK.

• 1,870 Caribbean students studied in the UK in 2011–12.

• The creative output of the Caribbean is high quality and could make the region better understood externally with a strong creative economy.

• Tourism is the main source of revenue in most of the region and one million UK tourists visited in 2012.

• Cuba is opening retail services to private business and allowing more workers to be self-employed, though the economy remains centrally planned and dominated by state-run enterprises.

How we can make a difference• Partnering with governments, funding agencies, and trusts

and foundations which share our aims in the arts, English, human rights and basic education.

• Establishing new connections with the diaspora communities and launching a fund for outstanding emerging leaders to develop ties with the UK.

• Supporting the development of a strong creative economy in the Caribbean.

cariBBean


Arts• Music – launch Selector to showcase UK music in Cuba and

Jamaica and engage with the Caribbean music industry.

• Literature – support CaribLit for writers, promoters and publishers in partnership with the Commonwealth Foundation and showcase new work at literature festivals to promote artistic exchange, pursuing new UK/Caribbean partnerships in Africa and Canada.

• Film and digital media – introduce young people to film making in Cuba and digital animation in Trinidad, part of a regional initiative to create jobs that young people want.

Education and society• Promote UK higher and further education in the region,

including transnational education.

• Manage an EU-€160,000 co-funded project to support improved governance and human rights in Jamaica.

• Work with senior government officials, policy makers, employers and donor agency staff attending our skills seminar in the UK to identify how we can best support the skills sector in the Caribbean.

• Work with Caricom and UNICEF to support their aim to make the Caribbean a child-safe region.

• Support schools to earn International Schools Awards and promote Connecting Classrooms for online collaboration, including Commonwealth Class which builds on the legacy of the International Inspiration sports programme.


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International Inspiration trained over 30 sports tutors and over 500 young sport leaders, many of whom now volunteer with the Olympic and Paralympic Committees and local sports organisations, including the Ministry of Education and Sport.

© Phillip Frederick

English and exams• Reach a significant percentage of all 10,000 teachers of

English in Cuba, positioning the UK as Cuba’s strategic partner for policy consultancy and the training and development of English language teachers.

• Continue discussions on support for English in the faculties of languages and education in all Cuban universities.

• Continue discussions with the national English language teaching board and Ministry of Education in Cuba about developing a syllabus for the training of English teachers for primary years.

• Explore opportunities in Cuba to deliver content for learners of English by phone, newspapers and radio.

• Explore new exams partnerships with UK professional institutions.

• Develop an English for specific purposes programme.

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS IN CUBA AND THE CARIBBEAN

• In 2012–13 we delivered over 4,000 exams to over 3,000 candidates.

• With the Commonwealth Foundation and local partners we established the CaribLit network to raise the profile of Caribbean writers and publishers with online resources for writers, readers and publishers.

• We are the international partner of choice for teacher development for the Cuban Ministry of Education.


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the British council and the Uk as trusted and innovative partners for progress in mexico with a focus on english and education and stronger collaboration with Uk arts.

Opportunities for Mexico – UK cultural relations• Mexico is the largest trading nation and the largest goods

import market in Latin America (US$351 billion in 2011).

• It has a landmass roughly that of Europe and 113 million people with an average age of 27.

• President Enrique Peña Nieto wants to diversify away from dependence on the USA to stronger relationships with other countries which can support progress in Mexico.

• Mexico has a rich tradition in arts and culture and sees the arts as central to its projection overseas.

• Mexico needs to train an additional 125,000 English school teachers.

• 28 per cent of Mexico’s 19–23 year olds are enrolled in higher education. There is rapid growth in the number of students and a significant increase in the number of institutions.

• The UK is the second destination of choice for Mexicans studying abroad after the USA with 1,850 students in UK universities.

• Changes in the energy sector will open the market to overseas partners, with more demand for vocational and language skills and stronger higher education.

How we can make a difference• Preparing a major arts showcase for 2015’s Year of the

UK in Mexico and Year of Mexico in the UK, alongside the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, CONACULTA and AMEXCID.

• Supporting improvements to English teaching.

• Helping Mexico strengthen its creative industries.

• Supporting internationalisation of higher and basic education, as well as teacher development and international links in schools.

• Helping more students and researchers get to the UK.

• Challenging outdated perceptions of Mexico in the UK to help create more relationships and links.

mexico

ArtsPrepare for a major showcase in 2015 by:

• Supporting development of the Mexican publishing industry by engaging with the main literature festivals including the Hay Festival in Xalapa.

• Working in partnership with Ambulante Documentary Festival, Festival International de Documental de la Ciudad de México, Festival International de Cine de Morelia, Festival International de Guadalajara, and others, with British film weeks and encouragement of co-operation to support the film industry.

• Promoting BBC Proms live, celebrating Benjamin Britten’s 100th anniversary, scaling up National Theatre Live screenings, expanding the Royal Court partnership and reconnecting with the major performing arts festivals.

• Developing curatorial partnerships for major visual arts and architecture exhibitions from the UK.

• Creating a network of emerging artists and entrepreneurs looking to the UK for exchange and inspiration.

Education and society• Expand our education exhibitions in Mexico City and Monterrey

and our Education UK roadshow with links with schools and universities in cities around Mexico City, including links with industry chambers and HR departments (e.g. Toluca, Puebla or Queretaro automotive/aeronautical industries).

• Run a ‘Knowledge is GREAT’ campaign of briefings for potential students in five cities with training of education agents to ensure quality advice is available nationally.

• Offer a policy dialogue and ‘skills for researchers’ workshops with Mexico’s National Council for Science and Technology, CONACyT for Mexican and UK universities and research councils to pave the way for partnerships and funding for joint-research by building capacity – focusing on biotechnology, nanotechnology and aerospace.



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• Build on our memorandum of understanding with CONACyT to develop a broader programme of research collaboration including support for mutual recognition of awards (with potential for training accrediting body assessors and quality assurance evaluation of accreditation processes), researcher training and evaluator training for researcher licensing.

• Expand our partnership with Southampton University for the MA and PhD distance education scheme in ELT.

• Address quality assurance, distance learning and transnational education issues by commissioning research around English language skills and mobility for economic and social development.

• Expand school partnerships online to 1,500 schools by 2015.

• Engage 18,000 young people in six regions by 2015, supporting citizenship in 12–15 year olds as part of Premier Skills, our partnership with the Premier League.

English and examsFocus on the states of Distrito Federal, Estado de Mexico, Nuevo León, Veracruz, Jalisco and Puebla for supporting improvements in the quality of English language teaching in schools and higher education (including both language development and teaching methodology) by:

• Expanding our language policy and curriculum work and supporting assessment and quality assurance processes.

• Piloting and implementing large-scale teacher education programmes for teachers in state schools, following the introduction of a new curriculum and national syllabuses for ELT in pre-school, primary and secondary education.

• Partnering with state governments to provide training for school managers and supervisors in order to pilot an ELT quality assurance system for schools.

• Re-engaging with autonomous universities and establishing collaboration projects.

Engage with the government to support the development and implementation of foreign language teaching policy by:

• Co-hosting foreign language teaching policy dialogues with themes including: how to address teacher shortages, the introduction of early English language learning and using technology.

• Co-sponsoring research into national English needs with a focus on basic education, technical and vocation education and training, and higher education.

Support state governments to implement curriculum and syllabuses by:

• Developing materials to support ELT in the public sector.

• Engaging with the Federal Government to revise English language curriculum and syllabuses and teacher training.

• Making our free Learn English and Teach English websites easily available to teachers in formats which are aligned with the stages of the English curriculum.

Further develop our services for exam awarding bodies, exam candidates and accrediting organisations by:

• Supporting professionalisation for English language teachers.

• Partnering with federal and state-level governments to develop an ELT quality assurance system for schools.

• Working with government departments to adapt our language assessment tools to measure English language levels for key economic sectors.

Expand our face-to-face teaching by:

• Extending services currently delivered in Mexico City to a wider range of locations within and beyond the city.

• Introducing innovative new products including flexible registrations, online placement testing and new services for very young learners.

Support 29 UK language assistants in Mexico and 35 Mexican language assistants in the UK.

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS IN MEXICO

• 500,000 pupils and 10,000 teachers in the State of Mexico improved their English language skills in Project English. Nationally we have helped 40,000 teachers access UK English language teaching methodology and products.

• We promoted UK English language teaching at our Best of British ELT conference, attended by over 700 teachers.

• We deliver 23,000 UK exams annually.

• We have supported development of over 100 teachers from public universities through an online MA in ELT, delivered in partnership with Southampton University and funded by the federal Ministry of Education.

• We have broadened the international exposure of pupils in more than 300 schools in the UK and Mexico through our language assistants programme.


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the British council and the Uk as trusted and innovative partners for progress in Venezuela, focusing on english and skills for artists and creative entrepreneurs.

Opportunities for Venezuela–UK cultural relations• Venezuela is the UK’s fifth largest trade partner in Latin America

and the Caribbean and commerce is expanding. The petroleum sector accounts for about half of government revenues.

• A Canadian study found that 52 per cent of students aged 15–30 from the A and B classes would like to continue their studies abroad.

• El Sistema Scotland is the first replica of the El Sistema movement (National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras of Venezuela) and Venezuela and Scotland have a partnership agreement.

How we can make a difference• Supporting English curriculum reform in schools.

• Bringing together artists and creative people to share their experiences and raise the profile of local cultural organisations committed to social change.

• Giving local teachers challenging opportunities to work and grow professionally within and beyond our teaching centres.

• Developing innovative English services to reach broader audiences across the country.

• Developing relationships with schools to strengthen the quality of English language teaching and English academic programmes for private schools through UK exams – TKT, YLE, KET and PET.

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS IN VENEzUELA

• We carried out nationwide research into English in public sector schools and held a language policy forum to report the results to senior educationalists. This influenced the Education Ministry’s decision to systematise the introduction of English in primary education by preparing classroom materials.

• We secured a partnership with the Contemporary Museum of Art for the loan of 31 etchings by Lucien Freud for Freud’s first ever solo exhibition in Brazil.

venezuela


Arts• Support the development of young creative entrepreneurs

with a focus on fashion, built around a competition linked to opportunities to participate in London Fashion Week.

• Run a music collaboration project with El Sistema with the aim of expanding its repertoire to contemporary music through links with young UK composers.

• Launch the British Council’s Selector radio programme to reach new audiences for contemporary UK music.

• Deliver training in strategic communication for arts and youth organisations.

• Run a two-year project based on the UK’s Somewhereto_ to create opportunities for disadvantaged young people to carry out arts and cultural activities in urban and online spaces donated by communities, companies or individuals. This is dependent on securing an EU co-funding bid.

English and exams• Create Venezuela’s first English language teaching diploma for

primary teachers in partnership with the National Pedagogical University with a target of 500 pre-service and in-service teachers. The 200-hour diploma will be available for adaptation in other countries.

• Train 600 teachers (500 in the diploma and 100 through our regular courses).

• Reach 2,000 students through our online course, Learn English Pathways.

• Partner with a local university to provide training to 500 primary school teachers.

• Deepen our relationship with the Ministry of Education through proposals for training programmes.


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educational and socio-cultural projects which build trust and understanding between the Usa and the Uk – bilaterally, across the americas and globally.

Opportunities for USA–UK cultural relations• The USA is the UK’s most important bilateral partner and both

countries work closely in all areas, from research and culture to defence and the economy.

• The USA and UK are each other’s largest source of foreign direct investment, directly supporting over two million jobs.

• US demographics are changing. By 2060, non-Hispanic whites will be only 43 per cent of the population, predicts the Census Bureau. For more than half of the population, the UK will not be part of their frame of reference unless we invest in refreshing the transatlantic relationship.

• The USA and the UK are the world’s top two education markets, dominating the top of all world rankings.

• American research and development spend makes up a third of global research and development investments and a third of the UK’s international collaboration research is done with the USA.

• American students bring over £250 million to the UK economy each year.

• New UK creative works are often unable to come to the USA without support in brokering on their behalf and sharing of the financial risk.

How we can make a difference• Presenting our innovative approach to public diplomacy.

The British Council is often cited as a model of successful public diplomacy in US policy documents, including a Senate resolution, reports by leading think tanks and recommendations by the Government Accountability Office.

• Convincing US decision-makers and opinion- formers of the power of cultural relations to address geopolitical issues.

• Refreshing the transatlantic relationship through cultural and educational co-operation in major cities including New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Denver, Atlanta, Miami and Houston.

• Partnering with Friends of the British Council to develop new programmes, drawing on the resources of trusts, foundations and philanthropists in the USA. Friends of the British Council is an independent body which offers tax benefits to partners in the USA who share our cultural relations objectives and wish to fund or co-fund programmes potentially anywhere on our global network.

• Extending our partnership with Microsoft to improve ICT in the classroom and developing new partnerships with USA technology companies.

• Establishing affinity groups of US-based trusts and foundations to improve co-ordination of funding initiatives in the Middle East and Latin America. We will launch the Latin American affinity group at our Going Global education conference in Miami in 2014.

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS IN THE USA

• We organised a public programme featuring four panel discussions on sex trafficking to examine key themes of the UK play Roadkill which is on tour in the USA. This was mentioned in the NY Times and has drawn over 200 influential people into a conversation about combatting sex trafficking, both locally and internationally.

• We secured a $450,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation to support transatlantic academic and policy dialogues on religion and international affairs over three years.

• We launched the Global Innovation Initiative, a trilateral research partnership worth £20 million over five years which is funded by the US Department of State, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the British Council. It will create 120 new partnerships a year between universities in the UK, USA and a third country (initially Brazil, China, India or Indonesia) to respond to global challenges and strengthen the reputation of the UK’s commitment to multilateral research programmes.

usa


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Arts• Focus on high quality UK performing arts which deal with

contemporary issues and are supported by public networking events. Themes will include human trafficking.

• Support UK or co-created performance, visual arts, film and literature initiatives which break new ground and are therefore commercially risky, with agreements to recoup our original investment as touring extensions are agreed.

• Create a new fund for international artistic collaborations on the theme of culture and peace-building.

• Develop new literature initiatives including participation in the New York International PEN Festival and promotion of Granta’s Best New Young British Novelists in seven cities.

Deliver arts programmes including:

• A UK commission for Park Avenue Armory in New York.

• UK film promotion in Los Angeles and New York with the Secret Cinema project.

• Transit, a cultural placemaking project in partnership with the EU and the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) in Baltimore.

• UK promoter visits to Edinburgh and other festivals, and catalysing new tours including potentially Candoco and the Young Vic’s Feast.

• A new arts managers and entrepreneurs exchange programme between Los Angeles and the UK.

Education and society• Deliver higher education policy dialogues in six cities as well

as the higher education parallel event to the G8 Summit in the UK and Going Global USA in Miami 2014 – all strengthening the UK’s reputation as a world leader in internationalising higher and further education.

• Platform the UK as a world leader in international higher education at conventions of AIEA in New Orleans, the World University Network and the m-Education Alliance in Washington DC and NAFSA in St Louis.

• Launch a new project to advocate, research and attract partner funding to mobilise the humanities in higher education for resolving global security, prosperity, employability and developmental issues.

• Expand our partnership with Microsoft to offer education and training solutions to up to 18 Ministries of Education worldwide.

• Launch the Global Innovation Fund (see box).

• Develop worldwide contract opportunities with the World Bank, UNDP, USAID, IFC and IDB.

• Devise a new alumni project offering services to UK universities to sustain relations with their US-based alumni.

• Manage the 9/11 scholarship programme summer camp in the UK for American teenagers who lost a parent in 9/11.

• Deliver US programmes for the UK Leadership Foundation and the UK/US Teacher Education Exchanges Programme.

• Introduce the Premier Skills programme for youth sport and leadership to one pilot city in the US in partnership with the Premier League and NBC.

• Launch Bridging Voices to explore relations between politics and religion in international relations, funded with $450,000 from The Luce Foundation. Five grants will be awarded annually to groups of institutions on both sides of the Atlantic to support two academic and policy dialogues over one year – one in the United States and the other in the UK or elsewhere in Europe.

• Launch Changing Demographies, an exploration of multicultural cities and social mobility.

• Develop transatlantic networks of next generation influencers.

• Conclude Our Shared Future, a project co-funded by The Carnegie Corporation of New York which aims to improve the public conversation about Muslims and intercultural relations in the US and Europe, with a series of tours by UK academics working on Muslim and non-Muslim relations to universities and communities across the USA.

English • Review the potential to support improvements in the teaching

of English in the USA.

• Research the possibilities of teaching English from the USA remotely into Latin America.


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© Tim Morozzo

‘ It’s wonderful that you are advancing social justice issues and human rights by raising awareness through the arts. Culture reaches people at a visceral level and impresses on them the importance of social issues and educates them. Through that play (Roadkill – on the theme of human trafficking) you were really pulling off the blinders, enabling people to be agents for change.’

Veronica zeitlin, U.S. Agency for International Development

Front cover image © Mat Wright

© British Council 2013 / D238 The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.

In his book Wired for Culture, published in 2012, Mark Pagel wrote this…

‘ …our genes have created in us a machine capable of greater inventiveness and common good than any other on earth. the key is to provide or somehow create among people stronger clues of trust and common values than might otherwise be suggested by the highly imprecise markers of ethnicity or cultural differences that we have used throughout our history, and then to encourage the conditions that give people a sense of shared purposes and shared outcomes. that is the recipe that carried us around the world beginning around 60,000 years ago, and it still works. Looking around the great cosmopolitan cities of our world it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that this is already happening.’

In 2014 we will celebrate 80 years of building trust and co-operation between people in the UK and countries around the world. We call this cultural relations and we agree with Mark – it still works.

americas strategy 2013 –14 - british council · the british council americas strategy 2013– 14...

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